I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method of delivering petroleum or similar products. More particularly, it relates to a method of ensuring the accurate delivery of a plurality of different petroleum or similar products from a refinery, storage terminal, or distributor's bulk storage facility (hereinafter referred to interchangeably as a storage facility) into the appropriate wholesaler's, retailer's, or end-user's storage tanks, and later verifying compliance with this method of delivery.
II. Discussion of the Related Art
Currently, in the delivery of petroleum and similar products, a petroleum transporter (e.g.: a common carrier, contract carrier, or owner of the products) picks up various quantities, types, and blends of the product from a storage facility, and then delivers the products to a customer. The customer (e.g.: a retail petroleum station or a residential heating oil user) may have a single storage tank or may have several storage tanks (underground or above-ground) used to store various types and/or blends of petroleum or similar products. The truck that is used may be a large 9,000 to 10,000-gallon transport, a smaller 2,000 to 4,000-gallon truck known as a tankwagon, or in some cases, a container truck that has removable tanks, which, in most respects, functions like a tankwagon.
Each truck may be partitioned into several compartments for transporting various types and/or blends of products. Each compartment of a typical transport truck has an outlet spigot (comprising a valve and a hose coupling) to which a delivery hose can be directly connected to transfer the product from the compartment to the customer's appropriate storage tank. Each compartment of a typical tankwagon or container truck has an outlet valve, which controls the flow of the compartment's product into a manifold and meter. A delivery hose may be permanently attached or coupled to an outlet of the meter. The delivery hose can then be used to transfer the product from the selected compartment to the customer's appropriate storage tank.
In the past, a transport driver delivering to a retail petroleum station would be provided with load tickets identifying the load number, the truck, the driver, the storage facility, the customer's location, the quantity and type/blend of product to be loaded into each truck compartment, and the description of the specific customer tank into which each specific truck compartment is to be emptied. In the past, a tankwagon driver delivering to a list of customers would be provided with load tickets identifying the load number, the truck, the driver, the storage facility, the quantity and type/blend of product to be loaded into each truck compartment, the list of customer locations to which deliveries should be made, the location and description of each customer tank or tank inlet pipe, and the quantity and type/blend of petroleum product to be delivered into each customer tank.
Retail petroleum stations usually use coded color markings painted on the cover of each underground storage tank. The markings are known by the transporter, to indicate the fuel type/blend to be put into each corresponding storage tank. The markings vary in color and shape, and may include, for example, a white background with a black cross designating 87 octane gasoline, a blue background with a white cross designating midgrade 89 octane gasoline, a red background with white cross designating premium 92 octane gasoline, and a solid green designating diesel fuel. These colors and figures are usually painted onto the storage tank covers, which are placed in the driveway over the tank inlet pipes. These markings frequently wear off, leaving the tank covers hard to distinguish from each other. Also, through inadvertence, a cover may be replaced over the wrong storage tank, thereby improperly indicating a particular fuel inlet that is not consistent with the fuel already in the storage tank. To attempt to prevent this from causing a product mix on the next delivery, the customer tanks may also be numbered or labeled on the tank inlet. However, the inlet numbering may be obscured or in poor light, making positive identification difficult for the driver. These factors contribute to unloading errors, or product mixes, in which the wrong type of product is delivered into the storage tank.
At a minimum, mixing two gasolines of different octane ratings reduces the value of the higher-octane quantity; the maximum additional costs of mixing two gasolines is the required additional expensive handling. The least costly mistake is to deliver a higher octane gasoline into a tank than is required, since the only effect is that the retailer must sell it at the lower price at which the retail pumps are marked. As an example, delivering 2,000 gallons of 92-octane premium gasoline into an 87-octane regular gasoline tank costs the transporter the difference in wholesale price between these two products, or currently about $160 in this example, compared to the current $40 transportation fee for delivering 2,000 gallons in a typical metropolitan area. By comparison, delivering 2,000 gallons of 87-octane gasoline into a 92-octane gasoline tank can be much more costly, since the retailer cannot legally continue to sell this reduced-octane gasoline without reducing the pump octane markings and selling price, which retailers are loathe to do. If the tank will not hold enough 92-plus octane gasoline to re-establish the overall octane rating at 92 (which it probably will not), some of this product must be pumped out and put into a lower-octane retailer tank or returned to a refinery. The tank must then be refilled with 92-plus octane gasoline to reach the overall 92-octane level. A 2,000-gallon error of this type can currently cost $700 or more, compared to the current transportation fee of $40.
Another cause of improper fuel delivery to retail petroleum stations is the failure of a driver to properly follow the instructions of the load ticket. The driver may not couple the delivery hose between the truck compartment spigot and the customer's storage tank in accordance with the load ticket instructions. An incorrect delivery can be as serious as putting diesel fuel into a customer's gasoline storage tank or vice versa. This can prove costly, currently exceeding $10,000 or more for the required pumping out the tank, returning the mixed product to a terminal for re-processing (or incinerating the product if the gasoline contained ethanol, which currently is not accepted by refineries), and refilling the tank with the correct product; plus the potential additional cost of repairing vehicle engines damaged by the use of the improper fuel type. Therefore, a need exists to provide a method of delivering products that confirms to the driver that the proper truck compartment and storage tank according to the corresponding load ticket has been selected, before the product is delivered.
A further need exists to ensure that the driver follows the intended sequence of deliveries of the day's loads to retail petroleum facilities. For each day's shift, each driver is given several load tickets for delivery. The load tickets are sequenced by scheduled time of delivery. The driver is expected to pick up and deliver the products according to this time sequence of the load tickets. If the sequence of the load tickets is not followed, the driver may deliver the wrong quantity or type/blend of product to the retailer. For example, the driver may have two separate load tickets for a specific retailer on the same day. The first load of the two may be the driver's first load scheduled in the morning, and the second load may be the last load scheduled that day. If the intended sequential order of the load tickets is not followed, quantities of the several products scheduled for the delivery at the end of the day probably will not fit into the retailer's tanks in the morning. At the least, this can cause a partial-compartment delivery, and require that the remaining product in the truck compartment be delivered somewhere else or returned to the storage facility. The cost of this error is increased by the fact that the exact quantity of the product delivered--and of that remaining in the compartment--is not exactly known since this type of transport delivery is unmetered. Therefore, a need exists to provide a method of ensuring the accurate delivery of products in sequential order according to sequentially ordered load tickets.
An additional need exists to ensure the accurate delivery of products to retail petroleum facilities according to the sequence planned for the loads. Sometimes the repetitive appearance of the stations can lull the driver into a mistake, especially when delivering to retail outlets of the same franchisor or ownership. For example, since each driver is given several load tickets for delivery on each shift, it is possible that the driver will load the truck for the driver's second load of the day, as an example, and erroneously drive to the day's third retailer location. Although everything looks all right (in fact, it may look nearly identical to the intended location, including customer tank color-coding and numbering), the truck compartment assignments and corresponding retailer tank assignments are most likely to be wrong. In this case, the driver is likely to both create a product mix and be stopped from fully emptying the truck compartments.
Customers that are wholesalers or end-users will more often have above-ground tanks that are not marked as well as retail facilities. Some of these may have only one tank (e.g., residential heating oil customers) and others may have many tanks (e.g., automotive repair facilities) that store petroleum fuels and lubricants, brake fluids, transmission fluids, anti-freeze, and synthetic lubricants. The transporter must also have these tanks and inlets identified by color coding and/or numbering to help prevent deliveries into the wrong tank. The most frequent error in residential heating oil deliveries is delivery to the wrong customer, either to the wrong house or to the wrong storage tank of a multi-residence building. Expensive product mixes can also occur in delivery of products to commercial customers, such as auto repair shops, that have several tanks storing a multiplicity of products.
There is a need to ensure compliance by the drivers with the load tickets' instructions, whether for delivery to wholesalers, retailers, or end-users. Compliance by the drivers reduces the amount of potential liability the transporter may have for improper delivery of the various products.
The method and apparatus of the present invention obviates all of the above problems. It is accordingly a principle object of the present invention to provide a method for ensuring accurate delivery of petroleum and similar products from a storage facility to a customer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for delivering products with increased accuracy that is economical, simple and efficient to use.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of delivering products that is reliable, dependable, cost effective and easy to follow.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a method of delivering products that further reduces the risk of transferring a type or blend of petroleum or similar product into the wrong storage tank.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of delivering products that further reduces the risk of delivering a load of products out of the sequence scheduled for the day's work, and reduces the risk of a partial delivery of an unmetered compartment of products.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for delivering products that includes a system of monitoring the driver with respect to compliance with the delivery instructions and to compliance with the scheduled sequence of delivery of the day's loads.